On Twitter: Get the latest updates @SBcityNow | #RodneyKing | Local tweets | #LAriots | Local tweets Rodney King's death on Sunday at his home in Rialto has resurrected 20-year-old emotions and memories, reaching to when King was catapulted to the center of an explosive civil rights issue.

King's beating by LAPD officers in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved.

He became a civil rights symbol.

Some say he was a tragic figure, who left a legacy for civil rights reform.

And in the Inland Empire, where King lived, that legacy prompted reflection on Monday among those who face civil rights issues regularly.

"The incident will go down in history because this exposure brought to light some police brutality that existed - and still exists - in some places," said Mildred Henry, founder/director of the Provisional Accelerated Learning (PAL) Center in San Bernardino.

Henry said King's life was a reminder that not everyone in society is treated equitably.

But there was something else she found in King's life after the beating.

"What struck me was his willingness to forgive after being so abused," said Henry, a professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino.

Forgiven, but not forgotten.

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren remembered getting a chance to talk to Rodney King years after the riots.

"People had said he was nice and I believe that," she said. "I commended him for saying, `Can't we just get along?"'

But when he smiled at you, you could see the scars were still there.

Race relations have improved since then, but society - and the Inland Empire, still have a long way to go, Warren said.

As recently as March, the NAACP called for an investigation into seven officer-involved shootings of black and Latino San Bernardino residents.

Investigation results are pending.

Cheryl Brown, co-publisher of The Black Voice News, and president of the San Bernardino chapter of the NAACP, said that when it came to race relations, society has come far in some ways, but not so far in others.

Henry reported hearing views on Rodney King discussed among 11 young people enrolled in the PAL Center's Youth Employment program.

"One young person said, `King just happened to get beat up, and lots of people are beat up - it's just not recorded on camera. He does not belong on a wall of honor. Lots of people have their names on a plaque. King does not belong there."

Regardless of what King's legacy is or will be, for Warren, there's no excuse for trained law enforcement personnel to take advantage of anyone.

"I've lived it and it's still very emotional," Warren said, recalling her youth, growing up near Watts. She said she remembers being "so scared" during the riots there in 1965.

She also recalls being worried in 1992 when the King incident occurred.

"He was more of a symbol of what you don't want to happen to anyone," Warren said.